


avoid (where the crows flock)

by SnappleSnapSnake



Series: Black Cat [2]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blackmail, Bribery, Bullying, Chat Noir Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Lady Noir, Class Election, Darkblade - Freeform, Gen, Kwami Swap, Ladybug Adrien Agreste | Mister Bug, One Shot, Plagg Cares (Miraculous Ladybug), Self Confidence Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:27:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26780629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SnappleSnapSnake/pseuds/SnappleSnapSnake
Summary: Plagg had told her that running for class president had been a bad idea, Marinette reminded herself before she could yell at her kwami for letting her make such a terrible mistake. Not only was it a strain on her time and probably on her self-confidence when she ultimately failed at it, but the title of ‘class president’ also doubled as ‘babysitter during akuma attacks’. Which Marinette couldn’t do, for obvious reasons.She knew that the best choice she could make would be to abandon her classmates immediately and save the city. But, Rose was tearing up, voice growing panicky as she kept asking what to do. Kim and Alix were huddled together, pretending that their eyes weren’t shining with fear. Nino was trying so desperately to hold Alya back from running headfirst into danger.Lady Noire would have to wait a while, Marinette thought- taking in the sight of the cowering Chloé (who had just been threatening her only moments before), refusing to help their class in any way- her classmates needed Marinette first.So she said, “Kim, Alix- help me block the door! Everyone else, block all the windows.”Marinette could almost feel Plagg, hidden away in her bag, rolling his eyes at her foolishness.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alya Césaire & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Chloé Bourgeois & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Classmates, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Plagg
Series: Black Cat [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1924711
Comments: 1
Kudos: 73





	avoid (where the crows flock)

**Author's Note:**

> This is my take on the Darkblade episode, using a Marinette with the black cat miraculous. I recommend reading the first fic of this series, detour.
> 
> And just so you know, I'm writing Chloe's bullying and their impacts as realistically as I can- so there is a scene of clear bullying, filled with threats. There's also clues of Marinette's low self-confidence sprinkled around the one-shot.
> 
> Author/Line Breaks is still a very valid ship

It was a not-so-accepted fact that Chloé was always class president. She’d had the position for years, since third grade when she pushed Rose into a wall right before they made their speeches, causing Rose to cry throughout her entire speech. Their younger selves had thought that voting for Chloé would be a good idea- a thought that everyone would regret for the rest of their lives. It only created a monster.

Now, the process was barely even a process anymore- just a way to have Chloé win at something and shove it in everyone’s faces, like she didn’t blackmail and cheat her way to get there. It was a dreaded time that everyone hated, the class election. Marinette included.

“I mean, “ Alya, her best friend, said as they watched Chloé whisper a threat into Kim’s ear, “couldn’t you just run, yourself? If you hate her being class rep so much.”

“Maybe…” Marinette mumbled, looking down at her lap, “I just- I mean, who would vote for  _ me  _ anyways?”

She felt an arm clap her on the back, “Well, I would. Obviously.” And she couldn’t help but smile a little bit.

“Yeah, I know. But, well, what about everyone else? Sure, I’ve been in the same class as them for years, and Kim and Nino go way back with me- but, I don’t know, I just feel like they don’t think much of me. I doubt they believe in me at all.”

Alya scoffed, “Who wouldn’t believe in you? You’re kind, passionate, and dependable. All the good qualities of someone who should go into the student council.”

“I don’t know…”

“Just think about it.” Alya smiled.

And she did.

(marinette thought about last year, and how there hadn’t been any field trips aside from the annual, teacher-planned one because chloé had forgotten. how chloé had shut down the poetry club with the explanation that ‘it was pointless’ although everyone knew it was because someone in it had insulted her haiku. she thought about how the class always missed important announcements because chloé never went to student council meetings.

marinette hated it. the class hated it.

and she really wanted to do something about it. to at least try. because no matter how little people thought about her superhero counterpart, she was still lady noir. and that meant something. that meant a lot.

maybe marinette should start proving her worth outside the mask too)

“Yeah. I’ll-I’ll think about it. For sure.”

* * *

Alya’s proud smile was the only thing that mattered when Marinette had volunteered to run for class president, even eclipsing the anxiety that Chloé’s indignant squawk had brought out. Everyone else gave her interested (almost unbelieving) looks, including Adrien- which made Marinette have to hold down a blush.

“And I’ll be her deputy!” Alya called, wrapping her arm around Marinette’s, grinning.

“R-really? I thought you were busy with the Misterblog?”

“Not so busy that I can’t help out my best friend.”

Marinette smiled, “Thank you!”

“No problem.”

Mlle. Bustier moved on, asking if anyone else would like to volunteer. No one did, and it was Marinette vs Chloé- from the beginning to the end. Like it always seemed to be.

Chloé sneered at her from her seat and Marinette tried her best to ignore it. It would take more than basic intimidation tactics than to scare Marinette off now. She was doing the right thing for her classmates. Chloé couldn’t stay unopposed forever, and it seemed that Marinette was the one that had to take the job.

Once class was dismissed, Marinette was instantly over-flooded by enthusiastic classmates- probably all surprised that she would oppose Chloé in such a straightforward way. But, really, she was the only one who could fight directly against her. Chloé didn’t have anything to hold over Marinette’s head.

Marinette was safe and  _ everybody _ knew it.

“It would be nice if we could have more comfortable chairs. All the ones in class get really uncomfortable.”

“It’d be super cool if we were able to listen to beats in class.”

“What about some class fundraisers? Chloé always refused to host those…”

“Oh! Field trips! Maybe to the roller rink.”

“And can we have class parties?  _ Please? _ ”

“Maybe you could convince the student council to bring back the poetry club? I miss it…”

She was absolutely bombarded with requests, people far too confident in her ability to win. It was scary, how basic some of the requests were.

Chloé really was a terrible class representative.

  
  


“Alya! How in the world am I going to do this?”

Her friend just patted her shoulder, a wicked grin stretched across her face, “Just do what you think is right. It’ll work out, I swear.”

Marinette didn’t really have a choice- she had nothing else going for her, after all.

* * *

“Y’know,” Plagg said, interrupting Marinette as she wrote into her diary, “I already told you that running was a bad idea, and I get that you’re a stubborn kid, so whatever. But, maybe having a diary filled with your most important secret is just a bit of a bad idea, don't ya think? Chloé is known for blackmailing people, right?”

Marinette turned her head towards the kwami, who was lazing about next to her hand, chewing on a loaf of cheese bread. “Do you really think that Chloé would break into my house and steal my diary just to get me out of the election?”

Plagg gave her a look.

She sighed, deflating, “Yeah, actually. You might be right…”

“Of course I am!”

Marinette ignored him, wondering, “Well, what am I supposed to do? I have the trap, but as proud as I am of it- it’s not perfect. All Chloé needs is to give Sabrina a few tools of something. Or she could, I don’t know, smash it into the ground and destroy the box completely.”

“Told you that this whole election thing was a bad idea.”

“Thanks for your never-ending support, Plagg.”

“Hey! I’m just looking out for you, kid. You have a hobby and two half-jobs already. Your schedule is easy right now, but if you keep adding more stuff on top, it’s all gonna fall over.”

“I’ll be fine.” Marinette said, getting out of her chair and taking her diary with her, looking around her room for a good hiding spot, “And besides, I’m not doing this because I want more stuff to do, I’m doing this so no one has to suffer under Chloé’s poor planning. She’s lazy and never does  _ anything _ besides an end of the year party- which she’s super picky about.”

“That’s exactly the problem, kid.” Plagg said as he followed her, floating next to Marinette’s head, “If you were doing this because you needed something to do, at least you’d be doing something you enjoy, even if you were super stressed out by it. With this, you’re just getting stressed by boring stuff that you’re not into.”

“I care about my class.” She said, because at the end of the day that’s all that really mattered. Then she growled, “Plagg, I really need some help with hiding this!”

“You should also change your background.” Said Plagg as he motioned towards Marinette’s computer, which had a photo of Adrien laughing at something offscreen. “Might as well not get your whole ‘crush on Adrien’ thing outed by  _ Chloé _ , of all people.”

She nodded, not really speaking as she handed Plagg her diary case, trusting him to hide it well enough, and moved over to her computer. Honestly, it was nice to have someone who hated Chloé as much as her (everyone had a distaste for her, sure, but no one was treated like her by chloé. plagg had to deal with how upset marinette got after each altercation).

It turned out that Plagg could be pretty helpful sometimes, especially when Chloé was involved.

“You owe me a whole box of danishes for this!” He called from the other side of the room. Marinette just rolled her eyes.

And then her phone buzzed.

(marinette always wondered why chloé always hated her the most. it was weird, how strong of a hold chloé liked to keep on her, like marinette wasn’t allowed to just be good enough. she was never good enough, and maybe- just maybe- a bit of that was chloé’s fault. a crime that her bully would never be punished for.

she couldn’t help but go down that line of thinking again, as alya told her about the jagged stone signing. it had never been that large of a bribe, that big of a promise from chloé before- and marinette couldn’t help but think that it had something to do with her, specifically. like chloé didn’t just want marinette to lose, but also to be shunned and laughed at by her classmates completely.

a part of her, the anxious, paranoid, always buzzing part wondered if that was exactly what was going to happen)

“Plagg, we need to go.”

* * *

The first thing that Marinette noticed when she entered the Bourgeois hotel wasn’t the fact that there were a lot of classmates crowding in the lobby or that Jagged Stone was  _ right there  _ or the blaring fact that Marinette was totally going to lose the class election. Instead, her first thought was  _ Adrien isn’t here _ \- because of course it was. Adrien was synonymous with good luck, so him not being there spelt something bad. It also made her lovesick heart squeeze just a bit, thinking about his glimmering emerald eyes.

If she was in private, Marinette knew she would be monologuing all of this to Plagg. She could almost hear his disgusted moans and complaints.

The sound of Alya snapped Marinette out of her thoughts. “Hey, girl! Welcome to the evil plot of one Chloé Bourgeois, ready to bribe her way up through the ballot box.” She gestured towards their classmates, who were crowding around a rather bored-looking Jagged Stone.

Marinette looked at the cd clutched in one of Alya’s hands, “Are you sure she didn’t get to you, yet?” She asked flatly.

“O-oh, well, you know…” Alya trailed off, “I got one for you too?”

She just sighed, dragging Alya forward by her wrist, trying to scope out the scene, “I have no idea what to do.”

Alya narrowed her eyes, focused on the figure of an impatient-looking Chloé. “It looks like Chloé is waiting for something.”

Marinette’s eyes widened in understanding- it turned out that Plagg was right, after all. She really did owe him a whole box of cheese danishes. “Or someone. I mean, Sabrina  _ is  _ missing.”

“Hmm…”

“Maybe I should talk to everyone one at a time? It makes a difference if I’m personal about it. Maybe I can convince someone.”

“Oh! I can totally help! Spread the word that bribery has nothing on the kindness of Marinette Dupain-Cheng!”

“Yeah… Thanks.”

“Of course!”

And off Alya walked, towards the closest person- who happened to be Nino- ready to divulge in promises that Marinette was much, much better than Chloé. Hopefully it wouldn’t be too hard to convince everyone.

But before Marinette could even take a single step forward, she was grabbed by her shoulders and dragged roughly to the side. She looked up to see the narrowed eyes of one Chloé Bourgeois- whose nails were digging into her skin. Marinette tried not to wince as she stepped away from her life-long bully, knowing full well that her shoulders were going to bruise.

“ _ What are you doing here? _ ” Chloé hissed, “You weren’t invited.”

“Alya told me- she  _ is _ my running deputy, after all. I’m-“ Marinette cut off her own words, steeling herself for whatever malice was about to come her way. Any amount of bad luck that the world would cough up. “I’m shutting this down. It’s clearly bribery and I have a feeling that you’re hoping to branch out into blackmail. Not to mention that this whole thing is going on outside of school. It’s a  _ class _ election Chloé, everything campaign related is supposed to happen in  _ class _ .”

Chloé huffed, “Utterly ridiculous- there aren’t any rules about that.”

“Probably because it’s pretty self explanatory…”

“Listen here, Dupain-Cheng,” Marinette flinched as Chloé jabbed a sharp fingernail into her chest. She smirked at the sight, “you are not going to win this. I mean, do you really believe that they would choose you over this?,” she gestured to the hotel. To her classmates lining up to see Jagged Stone. “You’re not good enough. You’ll never be good enough- so why don’t you just go ahead and skip all the floundering around and just give up already.  _ Right here, right now _ .”

Marinette could feel her heart in her throat, unable to say anything. Her hands were shaking and she should just stand down. She was going to lose. Marinette never won- and it seemed like the world refused to do anything but stick to that rule. She wanted to run away, to give up and curl into bed and  _ cry _ . Suddenly, Marinette felt very tired. And very homesick.

(because that churning in her stomach, that itching in her brain was  _ not  _ anxiety. it wasn’t)

She could’ve just walked away. Right then and there.

But…

But Marinette’s class was counting on her to be better. They were counting on her to do the right thing. Chloé had no leverage on her, unlike everyone else in the class- that’s why she was being so aggressive with her threats. She was the only one who could do it.

She had to be brave,

(she was a superhero, wasn’t she?)

So Marinette didn’t burst into tears or run and hide. Instead, she stood her ground, eyes hardened into a glare, and opened her mouth to retaliate.

She was interrupted by a shout.

It was Kim. Outside the window he and all of her other classmates could see  _ something  _ coming. An army, marching towards the hotel. One step at a time.

She separated herself from Chloé, moving towards the gathering of her classmates as fast as she could.

“Alya?”

Her friend looked up, for once looking a bit scared of an akuma, “It’s coming here for sure. Towards its target.”

_ We’re the target. _ (the words didn’t need to be said for an indescribable chill to run down marinette’s spine)

“What does it do?” She sounded out of breath for some reason- and oh god, she felt so exhausted already.

“It turns people into his knights. It’s a mind control akuma.”

It was clear that everyone in the room was eavesdropping on their conversation.

“There’s an approaching field of darkness- it should arrive in approximately 14.27 minutes.” Max said, eyes flickering from his phone to outside the window.

Alya’s eyes narrowed at her phone, “Once the darkness touches you, you’re a knight. Don’t worry though, Misterbug is fighting the akuma right now.”

Lady Noire wasn’t though.

(alya didn’t mention that)

“Chloé!” Shouted Rose, “What should we do?”

Everyone’s head turned towards Chloé, wondering how exactly she would respond. Marinette wasn’t surprised when the girl’s face paled and she sputtered, “That’s not my job! Figure it out yourselves.”

“But as someone running for the class representative position, shouldn’t you be taking charge?” Asked Max pointedly.

“Dupain-Cheng is also running. Ask her instead.” And Chloé pouted, crossing her arms and staring pointedly at Marinette- putting her on the spot.

Everyone else turned to face her too.

Plagg had told her that running for class president had been a bad idea, Marinette reminded herself before she could yell at her kwami for letting her make such a terrible mistake.

Not only was it a strain on her time and probably on her self-confidence when she ultimately failed at it, but the title of ‘class president’ also doubled as ‘babysitter during akuma attacks’. Which Marinette couldn’t do, for obvious reasons.

She knew she had to go, because the akuma was approaching and she could hear Misterbug struggling outside as the bubble of shadows slowly closed in. As the army marched closer. Closer and closer and…

She knew that the best choice she could make would be to abandon her classmates immediately and save the city. But, Rose was tearing up, voice growing panicky as she kept asking what to do. Kim and Alix were huddled together, pretending that their eyes weren’t shining with fear. Nino was trying so desperately to hold Alya back from running headfirst into danger.

Lady Noire would have to wait a while, Marinette thought- taking in the sight of the cowering Chloé (who had just been threatening her only moments before), refusing to help their class in any way- her classmates needed Marinette first.

So she said, “Kim, Alix- help me block the door! Everyone else, block all the windows.”

Marinette could almost feel Plagg, hidden away in her bag, rolling his eyes at her foolishness.

Instantly, everyone (but chloé, obviously) scattered, moving to grab pieces of furniture and cover any possible entrance. It was weird how much they trusted her judgement, but it was a pretty desperate situation. They had no one else to rely on.

Marinette didn’t even know if boarding up the hotel would even do anything against the moving field of darkness that threatened to swallow all of them whole. She could’ve just been wasting time.

(she should be dealing with it right now- but the thought  _ they’ll remember how you abandoned them  _ stopped her from turning tail and leaping from the rooftops. they needed marinette, and she refused to let them down, even if misterbug got upset)

She was trying though. She was trying.

(marinette hoped that mattered)

“Okay- okay. Now…” She didn’t know what to say, how to be reassuring. Everyone was so scared, she could see it in their eyes. “Now step away from any possible entrances, near the staircase. Um… we should probably huddle together as well.”

Her eyes lowered to look at the floor, embarrassed at how unsure she’d sounded. She could hear distant, soft thuds coming from the rooftop, probably where Misterbug and the akuma were fighting.

She had to get away, she knew that.

(she was so late)

Marinette looked up at the sound of shuffling feet. It was her classmates, following her mumbled orders. Even Chloé, she’d marveled.

“I-“ She tried to choke out an excuse, a way to get away and transform. To help Misterbug.

(did he even need her help, anyways? she was sure his fans would prefer it if she wasn’t there at all)

But instead of running, Marinette took a good look at her classmates, all terrified in their own ways. Wide eyed and scared because the darkness was creeping closer and closer and  _ closer- _

So she took in a deep breath, shuffled towards them, and whispered assurances to everyone- as confidently as she could.

_ “We’re going to be okay, I swear.” _

But the darkness was coming and Marinette wasn’t doing her job.

Plagg was probably annoyed.

  
  
  


(she wished adrien was there-)

(she wondered if misterbug needed her-)

Everything went black.

It was just her luck...

* * *

(“i’m sorry i wasn’t there. i couldn’t transform- it was an emergency.”

“it’s fine, i get it. i’m late to battles too often to even have the right to be upset.”

“are you though?”

“no. not at all.”

_ i feel like i failed you _ is what she wanted to say, but she chose to stay with her class, she didn’t get to pile her messy feelings on him

“thank you, misterbug.”

“always, m’lady.”)

Not everyone was as forgiving of Lady Noire’s absence as Misterbug was.

It was a weird contrast, the admiration her classmates gave her (all voting for her in the class election- except for, of course, chloé and sabrina), then the constant criticisms of her alter ego.

Marinette wondered if they would still insult Lady Noire if they knew it was her behind the mask and the cat ears.

(probably)

“She just doesn’t seem as dedicated as Misterbug is. If she’s going to skip Darkblade, a fairly difficult akuma, who knows what other akuma battles Lady Noire will abandon? Misterbug just takes the whole thing more seriously- which makes some sense, I guess. He has the important powers, after all.”

She tried to hold in a wince as she listened to Alya talk, editing her writeup of the akuma- which was apparently called Darkblade.

“Maybe she was just busy.” Adrien said, turning his head to look at them, “The heroes  _ do  _ have lives outside of the costume.”

“Yeah, but it’s all of Paris at stake here! It matters. Lady Noire can’t just skip. Heroes don’t do that.”

They didn’t, that was true.

(but she couldn’t just abandon them, not to their fear and the impending darkness.  _ they were so grateful to her.  _ in the end though, she had abandoned paris completely. which was worse?)

“But Misterbug’s late to akuma attacks all the time- Lady Noire missing one attack doesn’t really mean anything.”

“But this one was important. The whole thing would’ve been so much worse if it wasn’t for Marinette!” Alya said, temper rising as she gestured to her friend.

Adrien’s eyes widened, and Marinette tried not to squeak under his gaze, “Really? Is that why you won by such a landslide today? Oh wow, I knew you’d be a great class representative.”

Marinette could feel her cheeks heat up. His emerald eyes were just so intense, so excited. “T-thanks! I tried my best…”

“That’s what makes you so good- sometimes putting your all into something is hard, but you always try your best. That’s what matters the most.”

Yep, she was definitely blushing. First, he defended Lady Noire and now he’s complimenting Marinette; she wasn’t sure if this was the world loving or hating her. “I-I appreciate it.” She looked deeply into his eyes, so bright when there wasn’t any rain to make them foggy. “I really do.”

“I voted for you, just so you know. I loved your speech.” And Adrien turned away before she could respond.

It was probably for the best, honestly. She didn’t know what she would say.

Marinette looked at Alya, who had been watching the interaction with a sly smirk- “You love him.” She whispered.

And Marinette couldn’t deny it.

* * *

Later that day, Marinette got the closest thing she’d ever get to a lecture from Plagg, “You need to find some kind of balance if you’re going to do this whole class representative thing, you know that right? You can’t just go abandoning Misterbug all willy-nilly, I know you don’t think he needs you, but you do have a duty to protect him.”

_ I know. _

“Being responsible is out of character, isn’t it?”

“Tikki would kill me if I just let you skip out on battles.”

“Who’s Tikki?”

“Misterbug’s kwami. Total stick in the mud, loves responsibility- reminds me of you, in a way.”

“I thought that I wasn’t responsible though. I did skip out on my duties.”

“Yeah- for  _ other duties.  _ It’s ridiculous.”

And he turned back to his cheese danish.

In the silence of her room, she wondered how exactly she could balance her responsibilities- especially when it felt like her heart was always bleeding. She didn’t want to leave anyone alone.

(but she always had to choose)

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I'm looking forward to writing this series. And I swear that Misterbug and Lady Noire's relationship will be explored, I just need to find the right place.
> 
> Oh, and I finally remembered to link my [Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/snapplesnapsnake)!


End file.
